Louis's Break
I swung the sword from high to low.
But neither the blade nor the direction of the cut matched anything I usually practiced. The swordsmanship I was drilling now was not the secret art of the Wallenstein family.
I brought the sword down again.
From a while ago—no. From the moment break had begun, I had swung with this one stance alone. Not with a practice wooden sword, either, but with the Epsilt Treasure Sword I had taken from Leo.
What I was swinging now was the secret swordsmanship of the Epsilt family. Its most fundamental first form.
Obviously, Louis Wallenstein would never have known it—and was never meant to. But I had the knowledge of the original game. That did not mean I knew the Epsilt secret sword arts in full, yet this first form alone was painfully familiar. After all, the character on the screen had repeated the motion until anyone watching was sick of it. In other words, I was endlessly practicing a stance I had only ever seen through a game screen.
Whoosh!
"Hah… hah…"
I spat out ragged breaths. I had long since forgotten how many swings this made.
The Epsilt Treasure Sword I had obtained held a hidden power. Setting that aside, it was simply a sword a little more ornate, a little sturdier, a little sharper than most. In the original game, the people of the Epsilt family never learned of that power, and treated it as nothing more than a flashier, harder, sharper blade. The process by which the protagonist uncovered its strength had been pure luck. Now I was trying to recreate that in reality.
Awakening the sword's power did not mean flames would suddenly erupt from the steel, or that anyone it cut would die on the spot, or that it would transform into yet another holy sword. The force sealed inside this heirloom did not strengthen the blade itself—it strengthened its wielder. Permanently. Even after you set the sword down. For a protagonist who would eventually have to switch to a holy sword, it was the perfect opportunity.
And the method of waking that power was, surprisingly, simple. The first form of the Epsilt family's secret swordsmanship. Execute that simple swing correctly while holding this blade… just ten thousand times.
"Damn it!"
I spat a curse and flung the treasure sword to the floor.
"How much longer is this going to take?!"
I shouted alone like a madman. Ten thousand times. Ten thousand!
At first I had counted diligently—one, two—with every swing. Around two thousand, I had simply given up. By then the count had already been wildly off, no doubt. On top of that, this was a real sword. Heavier than an ordinary blade, and laden with gaudy ornamentation besides. The form was simple, but it drained stamina like hell.
And finally—the condition for awakening the sword's power was to perform the first form of the Epsilt secret swordsmanship properly, ten thousand times. I had only ever seen it in a game. I had never watched it in reality. Of course I couldn't exactly drag Leo over and say, "Show me your family's secret sword arts." So even as I swung, unease never left me. What if the swings were being judged as the wrong form, and I was just spinning my wheels?
Still, I picked the sword back up from the floor. Break was nearly over. All I had done in the meantime was bury myself in the library or swing a sword. So if I had been doing it right, I had to be close to ten thousand by now.
Just a little more. Come on, damn it…
Gritting my teeth, I brought the sword down again. Irritation got the better of me, and this time the form was a little sloppy—and yet.
"Huh? Wha—?"
All at once, a pure white light began to pour from the blade.
"I-It worked… uwaah—"
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a cave.
"F-Finally…!"
I cried out with a face full of emotion. This cave—it was exactly as I had seen it in the game. I was so moved by the proof that my effort had not been wasted that I was nearly in tears—
"What, exactly, is 'finally'?"
A voice came from the far side of the cave. It sounded like a young boy's, but every muscle in my body went taut. The owner of that voice was an ancient monster beyond even Luisa Falken, the principal of Helon Academy.
In the game, the Epsilt family had clearly known nothing of the sword's hidden power. So the right move was to pretend I didn't either. I began to act.
"Have I finally lost my mind? Where is this?"
Hmm. By my own assessment, not a bad performance.
From the far side of the cave, a man stepped into view. In appearance he looked younger than me—a striking pretty-boy, though the faint resemblance to Leo's face was mildly unpleasant.
Genetics really are strong, huh.
"Hmm… How many centuries has it been? At any rate, I am Leonhardt Epsilt. If you are a descendant of the Epsilt line, you will of course know the name."
I bowed my head and answered.
"I greet my ancestor."
The boy's true identity was Leonhardt Epsilt—founder of the Epsilt family. The man who had established the Epsilt ducal house, and who, alongside the first emperor, had built this Lucia Empire.
He circled me, studying me as he spoke.
"Ho. You seem rather bold, don't you? Your ancestors all fell over themselves in shock."
Well, yes—I'd seen all of this coming.
"Heh. I like you. Still, for the sake of the part of you that is surely reeling inside, I shall personally explain."
Good. This Epsilt thought I was an Epsilt as well. I hadn't been found out. I could relax now.
"The sword you were swinging is the key that opens the entrance to this place. Only a promising one who has swung the first form of my swordsmanship ten thousand times may come here."
And so I—
"This is, so to speak, a gift I prepared for my descendants. But I can hardly hand it out to every riffraff simply because they share my blood. Only those who pass my trial receive the gift. Here, you will learn the family's secret swordsmanship from me directly. From its founder himself! Of course, once the teaching is finished, there are other gifts as well. Ah—I have not yet explained why I created this space. The gifts for you lot are, in truth, a secondary reason. The true purpose is—"
"I understand, so please just teach me the swordsmanship already, Ancestor."
I cut him off.
"You… wh-what…"
His mouth fell open. He pointed at me in outrage.
"Ah. Please hurry."
Break was almost over as it was. I didn't have time. The man talked far too much. In the game I had skipped most of this after the first playthrough, but reality offered no such mercy. Truly lamentable.
A short while later.
"I have taught many over the years, yet I have never met an insolent brat like you."
At his command, I took up the sword and settled into stance.
"Well then—shall we start by testing your skill?"
Wait. Hold on. This wasn't how it went in the game.
I barely had time to register that something was wrong before Leonhardt closed the distance in a blink and drove a fist into me.
"Wai—"
Crack!
"Gyaaaaah…"
Slammed into the cave wall, I let out a death-rattle of a scream.
"What. You're weak."
"Guh… Compared to you, who wouldn't be…"
I protested in a voice that sounded half-dead.
"What? You're talking just fine. In that case—"
"I'm sorryyy!"
"Heh. You should have done that from the start."
At any rate, he finally began teaching me properly. The problem was that, right beside me as I swung according to his instructions—
"You know, between that slippery Wallenstein bastard, that Rurike oaf you couldn't tell was golem or man, and that delusional self-proclaimed emperor, the trouble I went through…"
"Once you master the swordsmanship, you can receive a share of my power. But I couldn't very well hand it all out just because you're descendants, so I deliberately set a small trial through my sword."
"You are forbidden to speak of this to anyone else. I've set an automatic binding spell, so don't bother trying."
"But truly, I have never had a descendant as ill-mannered as—"
"Ah, I get it, so would you please shut up already?! I can't focus!"
"Wh… what? Sh-shut up, you say?"
In the end, I snapped. Seriously—he talked too much. Far past anything I could tolerate. He was someone I was grateful to, so I had tried to listen, but this was the level where I couldn't even concentrate on the swordsmanship.
Right after that outburst, under the pretext of correcting my form, I took a thorough beating from Leonhardt while learning the art.
"I think that will be enough for today."
I said.
"Hmm… Very well. Now that you have awakened the sword's power, you will be able to come here whenever you wish."
Having said so, as if the thought had only just occurred to him, he asked me:
"Ah. Your unfilial remarks earlier left me so shocked I forgot to ask. What is your name?"
Without the slightest hesitation, I answered.
"Louis Epsilt."